Along the Cher river in Touraine, Jean-Francois Merieau has revitalized a family estate rooted in the Loire Valley, blending tradition with a restless experimental streak. (The producer is commonly listed as Mereau but is the Touraine grower Jean-Francois Merieau.)
Backstory
The domaine reaches back four generations. Founded by Georgina after the Second World War, it passed to Paulette and Jean, then to Jacky, before Jean-Francois took the helm around 2000. Trained in Bordeaux, he worked in Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Sancerre, and South Africa before returning to the family vines.
The Region
The estate stretches along the Cher valley near Saint-Julien-de-Chedon and Montrichard, within the AOC Touraine. Its soils are a varied mix of clay, flint, and limestone, and the property includes vines well over a century old.
Vineyards and Farming
Covering roughly 36 hectares, the domaine achieved organic certification for all of its vintages in 2023. Vineyard work is carried out entirely by hand.
Winemaking
No commercial yeasts are used. Merieau ferments and ages across a deliberately diverse cellar of oak barrels, concrete eggs, and amphorae, combining traditional methods with modern technique to draw out complexity and expression.
The Wines
He works a broad palette of Loire grapes including Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Gamay, Cot (Malbec), and Cabernet Franc, producing an extensive range of whites and reds, among them the cuvees L'Arpent des Vaudons and Le Bois Jacou.
